Home Help: Weed out the bad

Weekly Home Help with items on how to get rid of weeds in the garden, how to clean windows without streaks, Comcast's Extreme 105 broadband service and more.

Staff reports

Although the garden will soon be full with flowers and vegetables, stubborn weeds will soon be springing up, as well.

Here are five steps for controlling annual weeds in your vegetable garden.

1. Don't till. The more you till, the more weed seeds are brought to the soil surface to germinate. Consider moving to a low- or no-till gardening system to keep the weed seeds buried.

2. Identify your weed. Know the weed you're dealing with before you start pulling or hoeing. Make sure it's a weed and not one of your vegetable seedlings.

3. Weed early. If you weed early in the season, you'll have fewer problems later. Remove annual weeds before they reach 3 inches tall. On a sunny day, using a sharp-edged hoe, gently slice the weeds just below the soil surface to kill them. The sun will help kill the weeds so they don't re-sprout.

4. Grow weed-smothering crops. Crops like tomatoes, melons, potatoes and cabbage grow quickly in warm soils and can outgrow weeds. Plus, they are large enough to shade out weeds growing later in the season. Or consider a cover crop to smother weeds, and add organic matter to the soil. Buckwheat is a fast growing cover crop that will smother weeds.

5. Eat your weeds. Weeds aren't all bad. After all, the definition of a weed is a plant growing in the wrong place. Many weeds are edible and taste great. Harvest lamb's quarters, purslane and pigweed when they are young and add them to salads. Mix chickweed in with basil and parsley to make a great pesto.

For more tips and garden information visit www.garden.org.

-- Family Features

Tip of the Week: Wrap a bouquet of flowers

If you buy a bouquet of flowers as a gift, always wrap it first. A wrapped bouquet looks prettier and the wrapping helps protect the delicate petals from the elements. Choose tasteful wrapping paper, cellophane or even simple brown paper. Fold the paper in half –– it looks better if folded unevenly –– and place the bouquet on the paper with the stems hanging below the folded edge. Fold the left side over the flowers and then the right side, and secure with ribbon.

-- HGTV.com

Home-Selling Tip: Refinish hard wood floors

Installing laminate wood flooring in an upscale home could reduce the value because potential buyers may only think of the cost of having it torn out. It is better to refinish the existing hardwood floors, if there are any. Or replace the floors with new but inexpensive wall-to-wall carpeting.

-- EnergizedSeller.com

Going Green: Avoid unnecessary packaging

Buy groceries and products with minimal packaging and plastic. But, with a focus toward on-the-go snacks, this may be harder than it sounds. Earth911.com recently pointed out products that are unnecessarily packaged individually in plastic: potatoes, jellybeans, corn, bananas and dried prunes. Instead of buying individually packaged products, use a sealable plastic bag that can be washed out and reused.

Did You Know …

According to Realtor.org, 59 percent of home buyers would choose a smaller home if it meant a commute time of 20 minutes or less.

Home Improvements: Cleaning windows, drapes and blinds

When cleaning your windows, use a solution with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water, and wipe windows down with old newspaper to avoid streaks. Clean Venetian blinds by wiping the slats one at a time. Remove drapes and curtains, and vacuum them with a brush attachment. Then clean window ledges, sills and screens before reassembling.

-- DoItYourself.com

Garden Guide: Buying trees and shrubs

The most commonly sold trees and shrubs come in a plastic pot or some other type of container. Retailers like these plants because they facilitate cash-and-carry sales and are cleaner to transport. They are also easy to plant and care for. Because they were grown in the container, these plants have their entire root system present. Beware of root-bound container plants, especially those with roots that circle around the inside of the container. Roots that circle could cause major damage to plants later in life.

-- University of Illinois Extension

New Product: Comcast’s Extreme 105 broadband

Comcast recently launched its Extreme 105 broadband service, which it claims is the fastest Internet service available to residences. Aimed at intensive online gamers and those who stream videos and download high-definition movies, the service starts at $199.95 per month, or $105 per month as part of the Triple Play bundle.

-- ConsumerReports.org

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